Israel at War: What happened on Day 71?

Israel's war cabinet is set to convene on Saturday evening to discuss a reported deal to rescue more hostages from Gaza captivity, Israel media reported.

According to the report, the deal discussed in talks between Mossad chief David Barnea and Qatar includes the release of elderly men and civilians in exchange for 'senior' Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.

The IDF is solely responsible for the tragic killing of three hostages in Gaza by Israeli fire, IDF Chief-of-Staff Herzi Halevi said in a Saturday evening address.

"The three hostages did everything possible to make us understand [who they were]," Halevi said. "We cannot shoot at those who raise white flags. However, the shooting occurred in a high-pressure fighting area," he added.

Blasts were heard above Lake Kinneret and the Tiberias area, with Israeli media reporting two Patriot missiles being launched at aerial threats on Saturday night.

This is a developing story.

Israeli officials appear more willing in calls with mediators to strike a fresh deal for a ceasefire and release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of hostages held in Gaza, two Egyptian security sources said on Friday.

The comments came as Axios reported the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, met Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe late on Friday to revive talks.

There was no immediate response from Israel to the Egyptian assessment or the reports of a meeting 10 weeks after the start of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

The Egyptian sources said Israeli officials appeared to have changed their mind on some points that they had previously refused, but did not go into further detail.

Axios said the meeting in Europe was the first between senior officials from Israel and Qatar, which has been negotiating between the sides, since the collapse of a seven-day ceasefire in late November

The Wall Street Journal separately reported Qatar's prime minister would meet Mossad's Barnea in Norway's capital Oslo on Saturday.

Recently released hostages and their families spoke at a rally at Tel Aviv's Kidnapped Square on Saturday evening, calling for the attention of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's War Cabinet.

Raz Ben-Ami, a recently released hostage from Hamas captivity, spoke at the rally. Her husband Ohad remains captive.

Danny Elgarat, the brother of Itzhak Elgarat, and Noam Perry, the daughter of Haim Perry, both kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, were present.

Ruby Chen, the American-Israeli father of 19-year-old hostage Itay Chen, also spoke.

This is a developing story.

The IDF struck the source of three rockets fired at northern Israel and struck more Hezbollah terror targets on Saturday afternoon, the Israeli military said.

The head of the Mossad, David Barnea, met with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, in Europe this weekend, to discuss the continued negotiations for a deal to release the hostages in Gaza, Israeli media reported.

Israeli media reported this was the first time that a meeting took place between an Israeli senior official and a Qatari official since the collapse of the week-long ceasefire. 

The IDF's role in coming back to the discussion table comes as families of the hostages increase pressure for their loved ones' return from Gaza. The previous deal failed two weeks ago after Hamas refused to release the rest of the kidnapped women.

A spokesman for Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthis said the group had attacked the Israeli Red Sea resort city of Eilat on Saturday with a swarm of drones.

Egyptian air defense shot down a suspected drone off the Red Sea coast near the resort town of Dahab on Egypt's eastern Sinai coast, two security sources said.

The security sources said the drone's origin was unknown.

Witnesses in Dahab said they saw an object fall into the water. They said they saw another flying object fall in the nearby mountains.

In late October, drones caused explosions that rocked two other Red Sea towns, which Israel said Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi movement sent them to strike its territory.

The three Israeli hostages killed mistakenly by Israeli forces in Gaza screamed "Help!" in Hebrew while holding up a white flag, an initial inquiry into the incident found on Saturday, as per an Israeli military official.

The incident happened in an area of intense combat where Hamas terrorists operate in civilian attire and use deception tactics, the official said.

The hostages were fired upon against Israel's rules of engagement, the official added.

The three, named Yotam Chaim, Samer Talalka, and Alon Shamriz, were all taken hostage during the October 7 massacre on southern Israel communities.

(L-R) Gaza hostages Alon Shamriz, Samer Talalka, and Yotam Haim (credit: Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

According to the inquiry, the hostages were standing near a building with the words "help" and "SOS" spray-painted on its exterior walls. The IDF immediately shot at the hostages, suspecting the building to be boobytrapped.

Two were killed by the initial IDF fire, with one momentarily returning inside the building after being severely wounded. Minutes later, the third hostage appeared out of the building and was shot dead after he was suspected as a terrorist.

This is a developing story.

Three Israeli hostages killed mistakenly in Gaza by Israeli forces had been holding up a white flag, according to an initial inquiry into the incident, a military official said on Saturday.

The incident happened in an area of intense combat where Hamas terrorists operate in civilian attire and use deception tactics, the official said. The hostages were fired upon against Israel's rules of engagement, the official added.